Gestalt Learning

Vergel John P. Ercia DDM

Learning objectives
At the end of the presentation, you
should be able to
Discuss the general processes of Gestalt
learning and their implications to health
sciences teaching
Differentiate behaviorism and other
cognitive theories of learning from
Gestalt learning
Explain the various factors relating to
learning and training from a Gestalt
perspective

GESTALT THEORISTS
Max
Wertheimer

Wolfgang Khler

Kurt Koffka

 Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt

Koffka, studied perception and concluded that
the learners were not passive , but rather
active. They suggested that learners do not
just collect information but they actively
process and restructure data in order to
understand it. This is called PERCEPTUAL
PROCESSES. Like past experience, needs,
attitudes and ones present situation can affect
his/her perception.

Gestalt Theory is based on the fact that

There are wholes, the behavior of which is not determined by that
of their individual elements, but where the part-processes are
themselves determined be the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is
the hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such
wholes. Max Wertheimer ,1924
In other words, the Gestaltists believed that phenomenological
experience should not be studied in parts but as a whole. This is
because our brain processes the information received from our
senses organizing it in Gestalten (meaningful wholes).

GESTALT THEORY

The Gestalt theory proposes that learning consists of the

grasping of a structural whole and not just a mechanistic
response to a stimulus.

Gestalten
The cognitive process that our brain exercises on the
sensory stimulation simplifies, organizes and adds
meaning to our psychological experience.
What the Gestalt psychologists study is human
perception. And according to them, our conscious
perception of sensorial elements is diverse to the
sensorial elements themselves, because we add a
meaning to it. Therefore, according to the Gestalt
psychologists The Whole is more than the sum of its
parts

 Brain insists on finding patterns (Gestalten) wherever

possible.
So it is not neutral and passive.

What is this?

Dog sniffing
among leaves

What is this?

Children apparently get

this a lot faster than adults.
I wonder why?

What are
they?

What are
they?
Ship arriving too late to
save a drowning witch

What are
they?
Worm wriggling across
a razor blade

What are
they?
Koala climbing a tree

What are they?

Sensory Organization
According to Khler, a general dynamic
interdependence exists in our sensory field, although
dynamic factors operate towards a measure of
segregation.
In most visual fields the contents of particular areas
belong together as circumscribed units which are
segregated from their surroundings.
These units acquire names and become richly symbolic.
This organization into units is not present in the stimuli
themselves, but a product of our neural functions.

Gestalt
Principles

Law of Proximity
objects near each other or closer together
tend to be grouped together.

Principle of Proximity
We perceive sensorial elements that are close to each other as a
whole or Gestalt.

Law of Similarity
elements that look similar we perceived
as part of the same form.

Principle of Similarity
We perceive sensorial elements which share similar characteristics
as a whole or Gestalt.

Law of Closure
objects grouped together are seen as
a whole.

Principle of Closure
Our cognitive process completes incomplete sensorial
elements, causing us to consciously perceive them as a
whole or gestalt.

Kanizsa Triangle

Ehrenstein

Law of Good Continuation

connected by straight or curving
lines are seen in a way that the
smoothest path, rather than seeing
separate lines and angles, lines are
seen belonging together.

Principle of Continuity
If one sensorial element directs us to another we perceive both as a
whole or Gestalt.

Law of Good Pragnanz

the word pragnanz a German term meaning
good figure. The law of pragnanz is sometimes
referred to as law of good figure or law of
simplicity. This hold that objects in the
environment are seen in a way that makes them
appear as simple as possible.

Principle of Symmetry
We perceive simple and regular wholes more readily than irregular
ones.

Law of Figure-Ground
we pay attention and perceived things in
the foreground first. A stimulus will be
perceived as separate from its ground.

Principle of Figure-Ground
We separate whole figures from their backgrounds based on one or
more of a number of possible variables.

If we're thinking about

the perils of growing
old, we'll on average
see the old woman.
But if we're focused on
the joys of youth and
beauty, it's the young
woman that will appear.

Faces or Vase?

This is the classic figure-ground

issue studied by the Gestalt
pioneers.

The appearance and

disappearance of the black
dots may represent the
brains search for pattern...

Theyre both the same.

(Measure them) But we are
influenced by context

Which circle in the middle is

bigger?

Insight Learning
Wolfgang Kohler was the first psychologist
who developed the insight learning in which he
described an experiments with apes could use
boxes and sticks as tools to solve problem.

Such insight may reasonably

be inferred to be
demonstrated by one of
Kohlers apes deliberately
piling up boxes to get at
out-of-reach bananas

Khlers
chimps 1

Khlers chimps 2
(1925)
Or this one, using shorter
sticks to get a longer one
to reach the fruit.

Betty the crow

Crow bending a wire into

a hook to fish food out of
a tumbler.

 The important aspect of

learning was not
reinforcement, but the
coordination of thinking to
create new organizations.
Kohler referred to this
behavior as insight or
discovery learning.

 Cant leave mind out of it.

Mind makes meaning
Search for patterns (Gestalt)
Trial and error can take place in a
purely mental form
Need to study mental processes
Development
Intelligence

Gestalt Principles and TeachingLearning Process

six Gestalt Principles not only influence
perception but also they impact on
learning.
* Kurt Lewin
his theory focusing on life space
adhered to gestalt psychology.
an individual has inner and outer forces
that affect his perception and also his
learning.

 Inner Forces
include his own motivation,
attitudes and feelings.
Outer Forces
include the attitude and
behavior of the teacher and
classmates.

Interdisciplinary learning and topic work

Learning beyond subject boundaries
Based upon experiences and outcomes drawn from different
curriculum areas or subjects within them
Provides relevant, challenging and enjoyable learning experiences
and stimulating contexts to meet the varied needs of children
Revisiting a concept or skill from different perspectives deepens
understanding and can also make the curriculum more coherent
and meaningful from the learners point of view.

Cross Curricular Learning

Cross curricular learning gives children the
notion that things are connected and topics
are not isolated facts with no link to reality.
Children have the opportunity to apply their
knowledge and skills in a wider variety of
fields
"The coherence of the curriculum can be
strengthened by combining aspects of one
subject with those of another"

Contextualized Learning
According to Hull's (1993) definition of contextual learning, learning
occurs only when learners connect information to their own
frame of reference:
"According to contextual learning theory, learning occurs
only when students (learners) process new information
or knowledge in such a way that it makes sense to them
in their frame of reference (their own inner world of
memory, experience, and response). This approach to
learning and teaching assumes that the mind naturally
seeks meaning in context--that is, in the environment
where the person is located--and that it does so through
searching for relationships that make sense and appear
useful."

Criticisms
Gestalt theories of perception are criticized for
being descriptive rather than explanatory in nature.
For this reason, they are viewed by some as
redundant or uninformative. For example, Bruce,
Green & Georgeson conclude the following regarding
Gestalt theory's influence on the study of visual
perception.
Bruce, V., Green, P. & Georgeson, M. (1996). Visual
perception: Physiology, psychology and ecology (3rd
ed.). LEA. pp. 110.

Criticism
A general criticism of Gestalt theory has been that it
does not provide an explanation of emotion and
personality.
The Philosophical review, Volume 45 By Jacob Gould
Schurman, James Edwin Creighton, Frank Thilly,
Sage School of Philosophy, Gustavus Watts
Cunningham

Incremental
skill
acquisition

Penny
dropping

Academic
study

Behavioural

Gestalt

Cognitive
.

What kind of theory is best

for illuminating what
kind of learning?

THANK YOU